<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Scientists have unlocked a mystery after rediscovering a giant echidna fossil that had been gathering dust in a museum drawer more than 100 years after its discovery.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Paleontologist Tim Ziegler spotted the artefact while rummaging through a drawer of unidentified fossils at Melbourne Museum in 2021.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"One day I was working through our collection of fossils from Buchan and in a tray of unsorted bones, it sort of just leapt out at me," Ziegler said.</span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/sydney-love-triangle-murder-nsw-new-south-wales-crime-news/1eb8cc81-1615-4814-bace-5f38d50e2f30" rel="" target="" title="Accused love triangle killer gave dead man's wife lifts"><strong><span>Accused love triangle killer gave dead man's wife lifts</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"I picked it up and I looked at it and I thought, I know what that is, that's a giant echidna!" he said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>He's spent the last five years trying to confirm it was an Ice Age-era giant echidna.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"I worked with colleagues to collect information from public museum collections around Australia," Ziegler said.</span></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/national/scientists-identify-giant-echidna-from-fossil-hiding-in-museum-drawer-for-120-years/e7accd1f-7542-4aa3-a42b-9cfdae6207bd" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"We looked at fossils of echidnas, as well as modern skeletons and skulls like the long-beaked echidna from New Guinea."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The fossil was originally discovered in 1907 when museum officer Frank Spry journeyed to a cave near Buchan in East Gippsland.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/wesfarmers-australia-kmart-target-bunnings-priceline-officeworks-free-delivery-six-months/8813645a-c99c-48fb-b20e-a545b8967c7c" target="_blank"><strong><span>Retail giant behind Bunnings, Kmart and Target pauses delivery fees in bid to ease fuel crisis</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"It was found deep underground in a place called Foul Air Cave. It's damp, it's muddy and it stinks," Ziegler said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>It's believed to be the first record of the species in Victoria and is thought to be up to 1 million years old.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"This is the first time we've been able to add this giant long-beaked echidna to our deep time fauna of the state," Ziegler said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Unlike today's short-beaked species, the giant echidna, called </span><em><span>Megalibgwilia owenii</span></em><span>, was up to one metre long and weighed about 16 kilograms.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Its diet was also different - choosing to go after prey rather than nibbling on ants and termites like echidnas do today.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><em><span>NEVER MISS A STORY:</span></em></strong><span> </span><em><span>Get your breaking news and exclusive stories first by following us across all platforms.</span></em></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><ul><li><strong><em><span>Download the 9NEWS App here via</span></em></strong><span> </span><a href="https://apps.apple.com/au/app/9news/id1010533727" target="_blank"><strong><em><span>Apple</span></em></strong></a><span> </span><strong><em><span>and</span></em></strong><span> </span><a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=nineNewsAlerts.nine.com&amp;hl=en_AU&amp;pli=1" target="_blank"><strong><em><span>Google Play</span></em></strong></a></li><li><strong><em><span>Make 9News your preferred source on Google by</span></em></strong><span> </span><a href="https://9.nine.com.au/8x987w" target="_blank"><strong><em><span>ticking this box here</span></em></strong></a></li><li><strong><em><span>Sign up to</span></em></strong><span> </span><a href="https://login.nine.com.au/edm?client_id=nineatnine" target="_blank"><strong><em><span>our breaking newsletter here</span></em></strong></a></li></ul></div></div>